Arduous Work: Summary and Latest Developments

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Please note: This article concerns French legislation. The requirements described may not apply in other countries.

What are the 6 criteria for arduous work?

As a reminder, any employee exposed beyond the regulatory thresholds defined for professional risk factors related to activities performed in hyperbaric environments, extreme temperatures, workplace noise, night work, alternating shift work, and repetitive work, benefits from the opening of a professional prevention account (C2P) in which they can accumulate points that can be used to finance:

training hours, to access positions less or not exposed to arduous work;
part-time work without loss of salary;
additional quarters of old-age insurance to retire earlier;
a professional retraining project.

As part of the pension reform, the decree n° 2023-760 of August 10, 2023 lowers the thresholds associated with professional risk factors for certain work rhythms.

What's the latest news on arduous work?

Accordingly, the thresholds associated with the following professional risk factors are modified:

the threshold of 120 nights per year is reduced to 100 nights per year for the professional risk factor "night work";
the threshold of 50 nights per year is reduced to 30 nights per year for the factor "alternating shift work".

In summary, since September 1,^2023, the criteria and thresholds for earning points for the C2P account are as follows:

Occupational risk factor	THRESHOLD: Action or situation	THRESHOLD: Minimum intensity	THRESHOLD: Minimum duration
Activities in a hyperbaric environment	Interventions or work	1,200 hectopascals	60 interventions or jobs per year
Extreme temperatures	Temperature of 5°C or below, or 30°C or above	Not specified	900 hours per year
Noise (Criterion 1: Continuous)	Exposure level over an 8-hour reference period	At least 81 decibels (A)	600 hours per year
Noise (Criterion 2: Peak)	Exposure to a peak sound pressure level	At least 135 decibels (C)	120 times per year
Night work	One hour of work between midnight and 5am	Not specified	100 nights per year
Alternating shift work	Involving at least one hour of work between midnight and 5am	Not specified	30 nights per year
Repetitive work (short cycles)	Repeated movements involving the upper limb, at a constrained pace	Cycle time ≤ 30 seconds: 15 or more technical actions	900 hours per year
Repetitive work (high pace)	Repeated movements involving the upper limb, at a constrained pace	Cycle time > 30 seconds, variable or absent: 30 or more actions per minute	900 hours per year

The procedures for declaring exposure to occupational risk factor(s) remain unchanged:

For employees with an employment contract still in effect at the end of the calendar year: the employer must declare the occupational risk factor(s) to which they were exposed beyond the thresholds during the past calendar year, no later than with the December payroll.
For employees with an employment contract lasting 1 month or more that ends during the calendar year: The employer must declare the occupational risk factors to which they were exposed no later than with the payroll processed for the end of that employment contract.

How does arduous work affect retirement?

For employees exposed beyond regulatory thresholds, the Professional Prevention Account (C2P) is the primary tool for managing end-of-career transitions and compensating for the health effects of arduous work.

Exposure to one or more risk factors allows the employee to accumulate points according to a strict scale, managed automatically after your annual declaration:

Exposure to 1 risk factor: 4 points per full year of exposure
Multiple exposures (several factors): 8 points per full year of exposure

The account is capped at a maximum of 100 points over the employee's entire career.